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Age of Desire
First time in print Clive Barker's dark vision follows the last days of a genetically altered and homicidally ecstatic sexual compulsive.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published February 14, 2008
1 person is currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
P. Craig Russell
512 books262 followersPhilip Craig Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay. Since 1972 his work has won multiple Kirby, Harvey, and Eisner Awards, and Cartoon Crossroads Columbus presented him the Master Cartoonist Award in 2019.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 7, 2026
One of the most disturbing GN I have ever read. What happens when you can't control your sexual desires? You will find the answer here...and it will change the way you look at desire forever. This book is not for everyone - there are several extreme questions about the weaponization of human drives.
February 29, 2024
An utterly depraved graphic novel about an experimental aphrodisiac given to a man. The drug sets him on fire and drives him insane with lust. The consequences are horrifying and disturbing. Trigger warnings for animal cruelty and, well, rape in many different shapes and forms.
August 17, 2021
This adaptation of Barker's short fails to capture the subtleties of Jerome's condition.
Saying that, it's still a decent read with controversial subject matter.
'Give me your heart'
Saying that, it's still a decent read with controversial subject matter.
'Give me your heart'
September 4, 2014
P. Craig Russell! Tim Bradstreet! Clive Barker!! What could go wrong?
A lot, apparently.
This adaptation has a troubled history. Russell was hired to do the whole she-bang, but had a falling out with the publisher after he'd finished writing the adaptation and drawing the layouts. A short time later Tim Bradstreet was approached to finish the art, without being told the full story. Bradstreet held onto the final six pages of art until he was paid for the work he had already done. The publisher went bankrupt before that could happen. Years later another company bought the rights to the project and hired both Russell and Bradstreet to finish it up. This is the result.
Horror in general and Clive Barker in particular preferences mood and atmosphere over character or plot. The inconsistent atmosphere in Age of Desire is what wrecks it. In the original text we get an unsettling tale of desire without boundaries. In the adaptation we get a muddled tale of a rape zombie. The plot, the characters, the beats are all the same . . . but without Barker's carefully crafted presentation it's all rubber monster masks and bad porn.
A lot, apparently.
This adaptation has a troubled history. Russell was hired to do the whole she-bang, but had a falling out with the publisher after he'd finished writing the adaptation and drawing the layouts. A short time later Tim Bradstreet was approached to finish the art, without being told the full story. Bradstreet held onto the final six pages of art until he was paid for the work he had already done. The publisher went bankrupt before that could happen. Years later another company bought the rights to the project and hired both Russell and Bradstreet to finish it up. This is the result.
Horror in general and Clive Barker in particular preferences mood and atmosphere over character or plot. The inconsistent atmosphere in Age of Desire is what wrecks it. In the original text we get an unsettling tale of desire without boundaries. In the adaptation we get a muddled tale of a rape zombie. The plot, the characters, the beats are all the same . . . but without Barker's carefully crafted presentation it's all rubber monster masks and bad porn.
March 18, 2010
I only picked up Clive Barker's Age of Desire because of name recognition - something that failed me earlier.
While I've never read the Clive Barker prose, this adaptation is stunning. P. Craig Russell's adaptation is blessed by being accompanied by the artwork of Timothy Bradstreet. Russell also adds in some added artwork himself within the pages of this graphic novel.
Age of Desire deals with an experiment gone awry. Blind Boy, Jerome is the center of a sexual study of a drug used to stimulate the sexual imagination, turning him into a rapist and killer. He kills one doctor after - or upon - raping her and seriously injures another. The latter doctor's only mission is to destroy all records of the failed experiment.
Police are after Jerome, hoping to catch him before he rapes and kills again. The story's climax is foretold before the final page, but its meaning lives on forever. In an age where desire is mimic through drugs - where even a blind boy can have vivid sexual fantasies - what part of us is left human?
While I've never read the Clive Barker prose, this adaptation is stunning. P. Craig Russell's adaptation is blessed by being accompanied by the artwork of Timothy Bradstreet. Russell also adds in some added artwork himself within the pages of this graphic novel.
Age of Desire deals with an experiment gone awry. Blind Boy, Jerome is the center of a sexual study of a drug used to stimulate the sexual imagination, turning him into a rapist and killer. He kills one doctor after - or upon - raping her and seriously injures another. The latter doctor's only mission is to destroy all records of the failed experiment.
Police are after Jerome, hoping to catch him before he rapes and kills again. The story's climax is foretold before the final page, but its meaning lives on forever. In an age where desire is mimic through drugs - where even a blind boy can have vivid sexual fantasies - what part of us is left human?
September 22, 2021
Ok. So. A short review.
The story is quite fun for a short story. But the art isn't that great, all the people look ugly. And the text walls are quite disturbing! There is so much text you wouldn't need the pictures at all.
So I really can't recommend this for anyhting else but it's story.
The story is quite fun for a short story. But the art isn't that great, all the people look ugly. And the text walls are quite disturbing! There is so much text you wouldn't need the pictures at all.
So I really can't recommend this for anyhting else but it's story.
February 12, 2014
I love Clive Barker's work, so when hubby found this at the library I borrowed it. It's a short and horrific story that deals with the aftermath of libido experimentation, and the horrid effects it has on its test subjects.
The story focuses on a man so overwhelmed by lust that he attempts to rape anything that moves. And some things that don't. :/
I have to admit that it wasn't very exciting and the artwork was pretty bland. I think something must've been lost in translation here, which is a shame. While it deals with something horrific--sexual violence--it lacks the visceral but captivating quality that Clive Barker's work usually has.
This was just okay for me.
The story focuses on a man so overwhelmed by lust that he attempts to rape anything that moves. And some things that don't. :/
I have to admit that it wasn't very exciting and the artwork was pretty bland. I think something must've been lost in translation here, which is a shame. While it deals with something horrific--sexual violence--it lacks the visceral but captivating quality that Clive Barker's work usually has.
This was just okay for me.
March 21, 2011
This adaptation had a troubled history, which is detailed in the afterwords by the two artists. It was originally Craig Russell's project; then the publisher took it away from him and gave it to Tim Bradstreet. Then the publisher went bankrupt and it sat in a file for nearly twenty years. As a result, it probably isn't as good as it might have been (Bradstreet's art then was very good; it's much better now.) It's not bad, but it's occasionally confusing, and didn't affect me the way the original prose story (which appears in Barker's 'The Inhuman Condition') did.
December 12, 2012
Bradstreet is one of my favorite artists and Clive Barker is a favorite horror writer but this story was just OK. The art seemed small, even generic in some ways as if it were the extra pieces that Bradstreet had lying around (everyone seemed to wear his classic Constantine trench coat for instance). The story was interesting at first - secret experiment to develop an intense love/libido drug goes awry on the human test subject who escapes and rapes everything in sight. I was bored before the ending which seemed more like a parable of lust with little actual insight.
May 2, 2016
I pretty much picked this up because it had Clive Barker's name on it. While the concept is both gripping and appropriately horrifying, it seems to lack some narrative and artistic clarity that makes the story difficult to follow in places. I also don't think it reads very cohesively--it seems it was trying to say more than it actually ended up portraying.
That said, it was chilling in places, and a fairly quick read. This has apparently been adapted from a prose story Barker wrote; I may have to check that out and compare them.
That said, it was chilling in places, and a fairly quick read. This has apparently been adapted from a prose story Barker wrote; I may have to check that out and compare them.
April 14, 2016
A visual adaptation from Clive Barker's story about a man who goes on a libido charged rampage after being experimented on. The artwork was average, surprised that this was adapted rather than other more interesting stories.
July 25, 2016
Just not my kind of story. Sorry. I saw Clive Barker's name, and thought it would be much better than it was.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews